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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27894775">The Holly and The Ivy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/droid_activist/pseuds/droid_activist'>droid_activist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Power Dynamics, Redemption, Single mom Rey, based on the film "Borrowed Hearts", rich asshole Ben, typical Christmas movie cheese</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:55:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,269</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27894775</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/droid_activist/pseuds/droid_activist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben Solo is a single, high-powered businessman who is about to close the biggest deal of his career. To impress an investor during a holiday visit, he convinces single mom Rey and her daughter, Kira, to pose as his family in exchange for cash.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*On hiatus until November 2021*</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Reylo Christmas Hallmark AU Collection</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Holly and The Ivy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><p> </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•</p>
</div><p>The inside of the warehouse is loud, the sound amplified by the wide floor space and high ceilings. Ben winces against the sharp sound of machinery and the half shouted attempt his assistant is making at conversation.  </p>
<p>They don’t often come to this part of the building, and the contrast between here and the corporate offices are striking. There are no luxuries here, just noise and frenzied people running around, working around one another in complete and utter chaos.  </p>
<p>How does anyone get any work done in these conditions?  </p>
<p>It’s probably for the best that his company will be letting most of them go.  </p>
<p>“So, if this deal goes through, how many of these employees are we going to need to keep on?” Ben asks Hux—his assistant--once they’ve reached a quieter part of the warehouse. Here, a handful of employees are packaging things in boxes and sending them along on a conveyor. They work together with an easy sort of camaraderie that Ben never sees at corporate.  </p>
<p>They make business partners there, not friends.  </p>
<p>“No more than fifteen.” Hux guesses, “Maybe not even ten. Most of the assembly can be done in Coruscant.”  </p>
<p>Ben nods. He always works best when the things that make him human are smothered under an expensive Italian suit, when he can distance himself from the burden of compassion with overpriced coffee and shoes that probably cost more than what half of these people make in a year combined. In his element he radiates an easy confidence with an edge of intimidation, has a certain charm that can win him almost anything and a temper that commands the rest.  </p>
<p>In an office building stocked full of assholes, Ben Solo is <em>the </em>asshole.  </p>
<p>“<em>Don’t see people</em>,” Snoke had taught him, when empathy got in the way of business, when his weaknesses had made him soft. <em>“See dollar signs.” </em>  </p>
<p>“At least they’ll be getting severance pay,” he justifies with a casual sort of indifference, a cool detachment that took years to master.  </p>
<p>Hux, on the other hand, seems to just come by it naturally. “Absolutely,” he agrees, clapping Ben on the shoulder. “It’ll be a win for everyone.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•</p>
</div><p>“Well, if it isn’t our fearless leader and his trusty sidekick,” Rose grumbles, filling a box with polystyrene peanuts and passing it down the conveyor.  </p>
<p>Rey follows her eyes, which have narrowed in the direction of their boss, Mr. Solo, and his ginger haired assistant.  </p>
<p>It’s jarring to see them here, dressed to the nines against a sea of dull brown boxes and employees wearing hideous bright orange safety vests. “I wonder what they’re doing down here?”  </p>
<p>“Nothing good I bet. They never grace us plebeians.”  </p>
<p>They seem to be in the middle of a hushed conversation, their eyes occasionally sweeping over the room. Mr. Solo looks very serious as he mentions something to Mr. Hux, who nods. Rey’s heard they can be quite...<em> foul  </em> to deal with, and Mr. Solo has a reputation for being  <em> especially  </em>unpleasant.  </p>
<p>He certainly <em> looks  </em> the part of the intimidating corporate executive. He’s so tall that he’s forced to  <em> literally </em> look down his nose at everyone, built like he was carved from marble and probably spends his free time crushing lesser men in his giant, meaty hands.  </p>
<p>Beneath all that severity though, there is something strangely handsome about him. The silky, perfectly combed hair, the pouty lips, the dark eyes.  </p>
<p>Unfortunate that it’s all wasted on such a <em>Scrooge</em>.  </p>
<p>“Well, I hope they’re talking about giving us better Christmas bonuses,” Rey sighs, tearing her eyes away from the ominous cloud he and his assistant make. “I finally found a house.” </p>
<p>“Really?” Rose perks up excitedly, “Where?”  </p>
<p>She reaches into her pocket for the folded print out she’d gotten from her realtor and hands it over.  </p>
<p>It’s a shabby townhouse in the middle of town. Solid brick and good walls, but the windows are so old a good wind could probably knock them out, and the sunflower yellow front door is chipped and blistered. </p>
<p>Still, Rey is good at fixing things, and it’s certainly a step up from the dingy apartment building she currently lives in.  </p>
<p>“It’s got potential,” Rose agrees, smiling as she returns the print-out to Rey. “How much are they asking for a down payment?”  </p>
<p>Rey winces. That number has been haunting her dreams.  </p>
<p>“Around ten thousand.”   </p>
<p>“<em>Damn.”  </em>Rose gives a low whistle, “That’s steep.”  </p>
<p>It’s a stretch for sure, and Rey only has enough to cover half of that number so far, but she can make it work with extra shifts and lots of overtime. Between buying a house and Christmas around the corner, she’s going to need all the extra hours she can get.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•</p>
</div><p>It’s late afternoon when Hux enters Ben’s office,panic stricken and even more pale than usual.  </p>
<p>“We have a problem,” he pants, and had he <em>run </em>all the way here? </p>
<p>“What problem?” Ben grits out impatiently. He doesn’t have <em>time </em>for problems, or his breathless, sweaty assistant.  </p>
<p>“I just got off the phone with Mr. Kenobi,” Hux begins weakly, “He wants to finalize the deal in person. He’s coming here. Tomorrow.”  </p>
<p>That is not worth the aneurysm Hux seems to be on his way to having. Ben frowns. “I don’t see how that’s a problem.”  </p>
<p>“He wants to meet with you.”  </p>
<p>“And...?” Ben prompts, irritated.  </p>
<p>“He wants to meet with you...and your wife.” Ah. <em>Now </em>the problem becomes suddenly much clearer.  </p>
<p>“What <em>wife </em> ?” He’s never even come <em>close </em>to being married.  </p>
<p>“When I went to Coruscant to negotiate with Mr. Kenobi,” Hux explains haltingly, “I had to polish your image a bit.” </p>
<p>“By giving me a <em>wife</em>?” Ben snaps.  </p>
<p>Hux looks sheepishly at the floor. “And a kid.” </p>
<p><em> Jesus Christ</em>. His assistant never does anything in half measures. Not even when he’s fucking everything up.  </p>
<p>Ben slams both of his hands down on his desk and stands, “What the fuck is <b><em>wrong </em></b>with you?”  </p>
<p>“He’s old fashioned! He only wanted to do business with a solid family man. I didn’t think he would want to <em>meet </em>them!”  </p>
<p>“Are you<em> insane</em>?” This is bad. This is so very, very bad.  </p>
<p>“There was fifty-million-dollars on the line,” Hux explains weakly, as if it might be enough to absolve him.  </p>
<p>It isn’t.  </p>
<p>“So, what happens when Mr. Kenobi discovers that we <em>lied to him</em>?” Ben’s temper quickly burns through any last semblance of rationality. He briefly weighs the pros and cons of every creative means available to him to make Hux <em>pay. </em>He ends up hurling a paper weight across the room instead.  </p>
<p>“He’ll only be around a few days. I thought we could...” Hux gestures vaguely at the air, “Stage it.”  </p>
<p>“<em>Stage </em>it?” Ben spits, rigid with fury. Hux flinches but nods, resolute in his utter stupidity.  </p>
<p>“We could hire a few paid actors to pretend,” he suggests. “It’s only for a few days.”  </p>
<p>Ben doesn’t <em>want </em>to spend a <em>few fucking days </em>playing house with strangers. He wanted to sign that contract remotely and be fifty-million-dollars richer with as little human interaction as possible.  </p>
<p>But what other choice is there now? Hux has all but insured that he is completely and absolutely <em>fucked.  </em> </p>
<p>“You’d better hope this fucking works.” Ben growls, snatching open the door to his office so hard it’s a miracle he doesn’t tear it from the hinges. Hux at least has the decency to look chastised as he walks out. “Or <em>you'll </em>be the one without a job.”  </p>
<p>The slamming door comes as a punctuation mark, but it does nothing to dampen the sound of the destruction happening behind it.  </p>
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